Don Demeter
| Don Demeter | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Don Demeter in 1959
|
|||
| Outfielder | |||
|
Born: June 25, 1935 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
|||
|
|||
| MLB debut | |||
| September 18, 1956, for the Brooklyn Dodgers | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| August 28, 1967, for the Cleveland Indians | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .265 | ||
| Home runs | 163 | ||
| Runs batted in | 563 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
|
|||
Donald Lee "Don" Demeter (born June 25, 1935) is a former outfielder, third baseman, and first baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox, and Cleveland Indians. He batted and threw right-handed.
From September 1962 to July 1965, Demeter had 266 consecutive errorless games in the outfield, a Major League record that would stand for almost 30 years until Darren Lewis broke the mark in 1994 with 369.
Don Demeter is a member of The Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame.
In 1945, Demeter started his life in baseball when he joined the Oklahoma City YMCA Junior League. In Demeter's senior year at Capital Hill High School, his team won 59 games of 60. They went on to win the 1953 Oklahoma state title. After graduation, the New York Yankees signed two members of the team, while the Brooklyn Dodgers signed Don and eight of his teammates. He was signed by Dodgers scout Bert Wells. While his classmates each received a $3,000 signing bonus, Demeter was given only $800. Demeter was the only member of the Capitol Hill High School starting varsity team that was not chosen to be on the Oklahoma City all-star prep team, yet he would be the only player to go on to be a success in the Major Leagues. By 1959, Don was the only remaining Capital Hill High alumni of 11 that was still in professional organized baseball in any capacity. As a stepping stone to professional baseball, in the early 1950s Demeter played ball for the American Legion's Mosier's Tiremen of Oklahoma City. After signing with the Dodgers, Don was assigned to the Minor League Class D Sooner State League Shawnee Hawks. For his first season of professional baseball, he was paid a salary of $150 a month. In 104 games for the Hawks, Don had a .223 batting average to go with 9 home runs, 6 triples, and 42 RBI. After the disappointing season, Demeter said, "I don't enjoy baseball. I'm not sure I should continue it", feeling that he was living a more useful life. His passion for the game was reinvigorated though after the 1954 World Series. "But when I saw Alvin Dark tithed the church from his 1954 World Series share, I realized that baseball could have a very real meaning.".
...
Wikipedia